Dear Santa...

We've been trying to convince Violet that handwritten requests to Santa are more likely to be granted than those submitted via Mommy or e-mail. Mumbling in a terrified voice to the mall Santa doesn't count for much either.  Violet has claimed a number of imaginary deficiencies to get out of this task, but today she felt "well enough" to give it a shot.  She needn't have worried about it.  If she had composed a sonnet to the cat, I don't think I could have been more excited.

I give you Violet's first written-all-by-herself letter to Santa Claus.

She's asking for Musketeer Barbie, but we cut her some slack on the specifics.  The big man knows what's up. We have submitted a request to the North Pole to have Violet's letter picked up using the "magic envelope" service.  Hopefully, when she wakes up in the morning there will be a receipt in the envelope to confirm Santa received her request.

What? You don't expect us to trust the post office do you?